Consumers usually pay for goods and services with cash, credit cards, or debit cards. Stored value cards (such as gift cards or electronic gift certificates) and smart cards are becoming increasingly popular as alternative payment methods. When a bank or financial institution issues a physical payment transaction card, a logo or writing on the card indicates the brand of the payment application (e.g., MASTERCARD, VISA, etc.) and the issuing entity (e.g., CITIBANK, WELLS FARGO, etc.). Such cards usually represent a single payment application or, perhaps, a dual credit/debit application. The end user controls the use of his payment applications by physically selecting a card for use at the point of sale (“POS”). For dual credit/debit cards, the end user may also be able to select whether the credit card functionality or the debit card functionality is to be used at the POS. The end user knows which card to choose based on the logo or indicia printed on the card itself, while the selection of credit versus debit for a dual function card may be communicated to the POS clerk or entered at a POS terminal. These selection mechanisms are manual and somewhat limited because conventional payment cards do not include displays or any form of user interface.
Systems and protocols currently under development are seeking to port existing smart card and payment application technologies into handheld mobile devices such as cellular telephones. The goal of these systems and protocols is to enable an end user to store one or more payment applications on a mobile device such that, at the POS, the mobile device can be utilized as an electronic wallet. The mobile device wirelessly communicates the payment application data to the POS terminal, which then processes the payment transaction using a selected or designated payment application. In practice, most people carry more than one credit, debit, or payment card and, consequently, a mobile device with an electronic wallet should accommodate multiple electronic payment applications.